Cambs FRS, Over £7000 raised for The Fire Fighters Charity in December
Throughout December firefighters across the county got in the festive spirit and raised money for charity as part of their annual Christmas sleigh rides and events.
With the help of friends, family and volunteers, crews at Yaxley, Linton, Littleport, Cambridge and Thorney have organised sleigh rides and Christmas visits to raise £7263 for The Fire Fighters Charity, a national charity that supports the everyday heroes of the UK fire community.
The annual Yaxley Christmas ride raised an impressive £2980 in just five days. The ride has been a Christmas tradition for many, and is now in its 47th year. Throughout the week the on-call crew, joined by their friends and family, escorted Santa Claus around the village spreading festive cheer to the local community. They finished the week with a special visit with a fire engine to Dobbies Garden Centre in Hampton.
On Friday (15) and Saturday (16) Linton Fire Station held their annual sleigh ride, walking Santa through the streets of Linton, and raised over £1270. Their ride on the second night was unfortunately cut short due to a 999 call coming in, and firefighters having to dash to an emergency, but they made up for it later in the week with a third visit.
As well as doing a collection on their rounds, Thorney also spread the word about on-call recruitment, encouraging others to consider joining the on-call service. They raised an impressive £1063 in one night.
Firefighters and colleagues at Cambridge Fire Station took part in a charity Fire Engine Pull at Mill Road Winter Fair in Cambridge on Saturday (7), raising an additional £350 for the charity.
Littleport fire station held a charity bingo night and raffle, and raised £1600.
Station Commander Kevin Turner, the Service's charity coordinator said:
“A huge thank to you to the community for their generosity and supporting our events again this Christmas.
“The donations from these events make a massive difference to the charity, which does some great work supporting fire service staff and their families, from our own service and others across the country.”
“These events wouldn’t happen without the great work of colleagues and volunteers, and we look forward to seeing what they have in store for Cambridgeshire for 2020.”